'It's a little scary', says Hillary

There was some rare good news today for those of us who are terrified at what you might describe as humankind's decision to destroy itself by failing to heed the warnings about
global warming.
Two of the leading contenders to contest the 2008 presidential elections in the US,
Hillary Clinton and
John McCain, have been on a climate change fact-finding mission to
Alaska and Canada's
Yukon territory.

An iceberg melts in Kulusuk, Greenland. Photograph: John McConnico/APThere was some rare good news today for those of us who are terrified at what you might describe as humankind's decision to destroy itself by failing to heed the warnings about global warming.

The bipartisan trip this week by four US senators is the splash story in today's Independent.

The senators were confronted by melting permafrost and shrinking glaciers and they heard from native Inuit about the rising sea levels.

The paper has some quotes from a press conference yesterday in Anchorage. "The question is how much damage will be done before we start taking concrete action," McCain asked.

Ms Clinton is quoted as saying: "It's a little scary ... I don't think there's any doubt left for anybody who actually looks at the science. There are still some holdouts, but they're fighting a losing battle. The science is overwhelming."

The obviousness of global warming has, however, been lost on George Bush for some time. The White House line that tries to suggest there is some scientific dispute about the seriousness of manmade climate change has only been softening relatively recently, with Mr Bush giving a little ground on the issue ahead of the Gleneagles G8 summit in July.

It must be hoped that this week's fact finding visit by such big hitters as Clinton and McCain will help to make anxiety about climate change more of a central issue among the American political elite.

Campaigners are desperate for as much pressure as possible to be put on the US to sign up to binding treaties such as Kyoto to cut the carbon emissions that contribute to global warming.

Looking around the blogs for commentary on the Alaska trip, Nick Peerswrites: "I think the historical judgment of 'oil-tainted' on George Dubya's presidency looks set to begin before he's even left office."

This all gives me another opportunity to express my evangelism for the New Yorker's peerless 30,000 word investigation into climate change by Elizabeth Kolbert which was published earlier this year, and the Guardian's recent Heat supplement.